One of the zoos American black bears, Syke, was transferred to the Lake Superior zoo in Duluth.
Minnesota Zoo Minnesota Zoo News 2021
- Thread starter Dhole dude
- Start date
Apparently, the pacific sea nettle tank (former moon jellyfish) now is a nursery display for young fish. Credit to @CheeseChameleon2007 for the information.
The Llamas appear to have left. Hopefully this means the camels/wild horses can take up residence there again, but I highly doubt it 
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Sadly, Hawaiian Monk seal Paki, has just passed away. I believe this leaves the zoo with only one Hawaiian monk seal left, but Paki may use have been the last one, sadly. The question is, what replaces the monk seals?
. RIP.
Wasn't the original plan to turn it into a giant coral reef tank? That would be a good option. Or maybe get dolphins again?
I can’t tell if the coral reef tank thing is a joke or not but that option wouldn’t likely be in the budget at the moment. And I believe it has been said elsewhere, but dolphins are almost out of the question at this point. I’d love to see them import more monk seals, & maybe elephant seals or walruses would be nice, though the most likely options are grey seals, harbor seals, and/or California sea lions, sadly. Or they could just turn it into another playground, or maybe block it off forever
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The coral reef is what it was going to be turned into before the zoo got the monk seals.I can’t tell if the coral reef tank thing is a joke or not but that option wouldn’t likely be in the budget at the moment. And I believe it has been said elsewhere, but dolphins are almost out of the question at this point. I’d love to see them import more monk seals, & maybe elephant seals or walruses would be nice, though the most likely options are grey seals, harbor seals, and/or California sea lions, sadly. Or they could just turn it into another playground, or maybe block it off forever
Ah, ok. As much as I think that would be a good Idea (the zoos surprisingly large fish collection is pretty cramped at the moment) I don’t think that A) the zoo is willing to pay for all of the renovations needed to be done to accomplish that, and B) it’s probably wouldn’t be as interesting for the public as the monk seals are/were.
Sad to see these slowly disappear. R.I.P. Paki.
BTW: I could never begin to understand why Minneapolis Zoo would hold Hawaiian monk seal where these would be better sited at an Hawaiian facility both for PR and conservation purposes.
The Minnesota Zoo has euthanized its two remaining elderly Musk Oxen, marking the end of them keeping a species they have had since the zoo opened. Does any zoo still have them? I don't recall seeing them anywhere else ever, but could be wrong.
Saying Goodbye to Musk Oxen at the Zoo - Minnesota Zoo
Saying Goodbye to Musk Oxen at the Zoo - Minnesota Zoo
I’m pretty sure that the Point Defiance Zoo in Washington state has them.
Point Defiance is the only zoo in the lower 48 still keeping them, but there are a bunch of zoos in Canada and Alaska that still have Muskox.
They have a pair. I believe they just sent off a calf to Alaska.
Sad to see so many of the iconic Minnesota Zoo species from my childhood gone: beluga, dolphins, musk oxen, clouded leopard, asian lion, just to name a few. I know times change, but these made the zoo better in my opinon!
Unfortunately with the increasing temperature of Minnesota summer, I don't think Muskox are a viable species for the zoo anymore, sadly.
I wish the zoo would use this paddock as an opportunity to house some Asian hoofstock that really need new holders.
~Thylo
I'm a bit out of the loop on the Asian hoof stock situation. Are there any potential species that Minnesota could gain from such a rehoming situation, or would it simply be taking on more Asian wild horses and camels?
I know its hopeful that they'd even add a new species (my first guess would be elk, since I think that's been talked about in the past, but I can't find a source on it) given their current Master Plan. Part of me wishes that they'd bring back Africa as a seasonal exhibit since African animals are probably the only somewhat-practical thing that'd bring significant traffic to the dead-end where the musk ox were and that the MN Zoo needs to build goodwill with the public (see last year's closure concerns). At this point I'll be impressed if they actually devote it to displaying wild animals instead of using the land to put up tent sites/cabins (some of the potential products listed in the zoo's most recent Master Plan) or leaving the site abandoned for over a decade.
That’s terrible news, but not a surprising one, seeing the new Leaderships lack of interest in actually keeping species around.
On another note, I do wonder what they could replace them with? As @Sotolo mentioned, elk could be a possibility (albeit an underwhelming one), as they were mentioned as a possible new species, or they could just move one of the already existing species over there. A new species would be a nice, maybe Persian onagers (which were listed as a possible new species in the now-defunct 2012 master plan), or possibly Domestic Yaks, But seeing some of the zoos recent developments, the enclosure may just sit empty for years on end. like the nocturnal trail does to this day.
I'd be more inclined to believe the zoo's press release that they made the decision to phase the musk ox out in 2010 due to climate concerns since the previous Master Plan under Lee Ehmke also planned on removing the Musk Ox (it would've fallen under the Africa section).
I think the zoo could do well with Elk. Minnesota has a several wild herds (one of which regularly crosses the border into Manitoba according to the 2016-2019 interim management plan from the DNR). It'd be interesting if the zoo could work with the DNR like they do with bison. In my opinion, the zoo could improve how the represent all of Minnesota, and working on a more coherent representation of Minnesota's western prairies and parkland (which housing elk could give the zoo an opportunity for change) would help.
On a similar note, I wonder if the zoo is considering phasing out their reindeer and woodland caribou after the staggering loss of half of their herd last year due to seasonal disease (insect-borne viral hemmorrhagic fever according to Gondwana). Given their reasons for phasing out musk ox, I wouldn't be surprised if they followed a similar line of reasoning to justify phasing them out.